More About TAMRACLOVEC

Recipes I've Shared:

This one is SO worth the longer prep. Perfect company food. The long simmer means you can start it earlier in the day, then just give it a quick stir as you prepare the rest of your dinner and hang out with your guests! You could even finish the entire dish, then hold it in a 250 oven for another hour until dinner!

Cacciatore means "hunter" in Italian. In cuisine, alla cacciatora refers to a meal prepared "hunter-style" with tomatoes, onions, herbs, often bell pepper, and sometimes wine. Cacciatore is popularly made with braised chicken or rabbit. --Wikipedia

This chicken cacciatore is an easy one-pot meal, with no extra calories from dredging in flour or frying in oil. It's also an economical way to make 3 chicken thighs stretch to four (extremely large!) servings. Boneless/skinless thighs and frozen peppers and onions make this a super fast nearly-work-free meal! Each serving also includes at least one serving of vegetables.

These lentils remind me of a sunset with the deep red sauce, lighter orange lentils, and yellowish onions. They are easy, mush faster than other types or lentils or beans, and super filling for a large serving!

Basic recipe for making lightly sweetened, strained (Greek) vanilla yogurt. You can make non-strained and cut the calories in half (and cut the work in half!) but the non-fat flavor will be much more noticeable. Straining thickens the yogurt and make it taste richer, without the fat!

I wanted to create a smoothie for winter! This one is a bit high on calories for breakfast, but makes a great lunch. Make it cold in the morning then bring it in a microwave-safe container for a fast, warm and filling lunch!

Yeast bread does not have to be hard, messy or time consuming. Whether you are a busy mom with toddlers, or a 2 income family with teenagers, you can put this whole grain, heart healthy, low fat bread on your table in less than 2 hours, and with no kneading and no messy kitchen. Try this bread out on your family - but beware, you might have to fit it into your daily schedule when they polish off a loaf every day!

Original recipe from Heidi Swanson, http://www.101cookbooks.com/archives/easy-little-bread-recipe.html

The cottage cheese makes this shake incredibly thick and rich tasting, while giving a whopping 22g of protein to help keep you full and 13% of your daily calcium! The touch of honey makes it perfectly sweet, and it does not taste like a diet food!!

This saucy chicken is in a dry-flour roux. No added fat! Also, unsweetened almond milk is used to cut fat and calories, and make this dish lactose free! The sauce tastes different because of those omissions, so lots of strong herbs and spices are used to make this a yummy dish your whole family will enjoy! The half-cup serving size and very small amount of calories make it easy to chose one or two servings for lunch or dinner!!

This yummy fish is rather new the the American market. It is a type of catfish-shark. Much milder than the American channel catfish, it is more similarly flavored to the flaky white fish we are familiar with - tilapia, cod, flounder, etc. But the big difference is that swai is very firm, and not mushy at all, and has very little fishy flavor! This recipe uses crushed triscuits for the fish breading to give a super crunchy bite. Experiment with diffent seasonings!!

The original recipe uses pecans and includes a delicious orange filling - check out the Bon Apetit website for that. I've changed the recipe to use almonds and saved 10 calories per cookie! Since I left the yummy filling out, I added the almond and orange extracts for extra flavor - I also reduced the butter slightly.

Inspired from another recipe on this site, this dish is low in calories and fat, and high in protein! I threw this together with what I had on hand. A nice and easy pasta with garbanzo beans, cheese and fresh veggies!! Easily vegetarian by using veggie bouillon instead of chicken.

Yummy vegetarian dinner! Serve over rice or barley. I like barley best - it's crisp/chewy and has less calories than rice! YES the calorie count is correct - add this to your weekly menu and have a dinner where you can get really full without blowing it!

This Carribean inspired dish makes for a beautiful presentation! The Red and yellow bell peppers, green celery and white strands of onion melt together with the black beans for a colorful and festive dish that is sure to please!

Another yummy variety of oven/grill fish packet. This recipe does not include a carb - serve it with brown rice, pasta or potatoes!! This recipe serves a big portion of 2 fish fillets and 1.5C vegetables!

Light cream cheese and unsweetened almond milk make this creamy comfort food fit into your low calorie diet! This one is fit for company - rich and so creamy, no one will be able to tell that it's not made with butter or cream!

I was so tired of high fat chicken casseroles. I also hate the fake-food flavor of canned soups!! Here's a nice creamy sauce, with a light cheese flavor. Leftover grilled chicken is wonderful and lends a smoky flavor to this great comfort food!!

If you're looking for a traditional beef stew recipe, this is it! This recipe is from Julia Child's "Mastering the Art of French Cooking" and in French is called "Boeuf A La Catalane". I only altered it to use less bacon, less oil, and canned tomatoes. All the original french techniques are used to make this a phenomenal melt-in-your-mouth delicacy, fit for a king!! The sauce is actually velvety, and so rich!! Just add a steamed green veggie or salad to make a complete meal!!

You would never guess that fat free cream cheese is used here, because the flavor of the Italian turkey covers it up! These are a wonderful party food for very low calories (check out the calorie count of a full fat recipe!) and I've even served them as a side dish!

These are also phenomenal in jalapenos. They are bigger, so just use 10 peppers, and double the calories for each one.

Altered from another recipe on this site to add some protein and real eggs! This is a mild but very flavorful dish. Dress it up by using Grueyere cheese, or add some red pepper flakes while sautéing. A wonderful meal - serve over brown rice to complete your protein and add a salad!

Do it all in just one pot! This recipe uses canned sauce, frozen onions & peppers, and pre-made frozen meatballs for a one pot meal with almost no clean up! The shredded veggies are an easy way to hide lots of nutrition from picky kids - or husbands!

Broccoli soup is easy to make lo calorie - just use lo cal milk & cheese. The hard part is making it filling enough! Add some white beans, and voila! Super creamy (with no milk!) and lots of fiber to keep you going on a cold day! Serve over some brown rice for a complete protein!!

The pita crust and the sauce are both homemade! This means that there's a good chance you'll have most of the ingredients in your house for whenever you want pizza! Is it as good as delivery? No. Of course not. Will it satisfy your craving for junk food on movie night and keep the kids & hubby happy? Probably ;-)

A very tasty iced coffee! I keep decaf. instant granules in the house so I can enjoy this treat in the evenings! And, I love that the coffee flavor is strong enough that you don't taste the 'fake' flavor of the sweetener!

A delicious and very filling almost-one-pot meal! All your major food groups are included here - protein, carbs, veggies and a touch of dairy. This is a very flavorful warm-you-up comfort food - perfect for a chilly day! Altered from the original for my own tastes and diet.

I made this gumbo just a couple of weeks before taking a trip to New Orleans. We ate gumbo in the French Quarter, and I was thrilled to find that my gumbo was just as good! Try to find file - it really helps with the traditional flavor.

I used about 1/10 the butter that it called for in most recipes to make this a more diet-friendly recipe. Not for every day, but for special occasions, you don't have to blow your diet entirely to have a nice shrimp and pasta dish!